Mother’s Little Pansies, Part I

Activity: Snip and press pansies, leaves, and other flowers

Goal: To prepare dried flowers and leaves for our Mother’s Day garden craft gifts. We will make these in part II of the lesson in a few weeks.

Supplies: Scissors, book or cardboard, plain white paper, rubber bands

There are limited supplies in the garden shed, please supplement from the classroom as needed.

How to proceed

1. Have students snip at least 1 flower at the base of the stem and leaves (enough to cover a bookmark). The pressed flower will be more attractive if the flower, stem and leaves are intact. Press extra decorative leaves if the flower supply seems to be running short. Press any flowers or leaves around campus, but pick ones that can press flat (lavender, petals off thick flowers, pansies, rosemary…).

2. Avoid any pansies that have been nibbled by bugs (unless this is a look the student really likes). Also, make sure flowers are dry as extra moisture may cause mold to grow.

3. The children should carefully arrange their flowers and leaves on a sheet of white

paper so that the pieces are not touching or overlapping. Label with the students’

name. Lay another white sheet on top. Please let the students know that the flowers will look different when dry. The color of the flower will change when pressed and dried. Remind them that you are putting their name next to their flowers and you will not be moving them until the next lesson.

4. Interleave sheets of newsprint/paper and corrugated cardboard between the flower

sandwiches to facilitate drying. Place the sandwiches under stacks of books. Let dry for 2 weeks. The safest place would probably be to keep at home or the classroom instead of the garden shed.

5. If it is windy, you may want to press flowers inside.